Tend to thine own mirror and all mirrors then reflect yours

​Whether or not we like it or not, our current President of the United States is Donald Trump. It does not really matter how he became President, the fact is, he is now, and is wasting no time in doing things that have an impact on this country. Note I used neutral words there. I have been noticing various sentiments that have the gist of not even using President Trump's name, and instead use every other method to reference the position he is in. I decided to ask a friend of mine about it, and understood that people feel that by using his name, it would legitimize his Presidency. Two things bubbled up for me: - Voldemort in the Harry Potter series of novels, where the magic citizenry lived in fear, and in doing so, Voldemort's name would not be said. -That has got to be one obvious expression of denial if I ever saw one. I remember in the past that treating another person as less than human would be a coping skill of sorts when dealing with people or situations that bring up difficulty. I have seen it all the time, when we take relationships for granted; when we slaughter animals in inhumane ways; industrial processes for eggs or wool; or people referring to each other in dismissive ways. I am sure that many of us; including myself have done this too. It is a human thing to do, but this asks for a conscious responsibility when used. President Trump represents who we are acting - many of us are walking around living life and interacting with each other in a very fragmented fashion. We as a society have enforced both spoken and unspoken standards on what behaviours are and are not acceptable, what attitudes are and are not acceptable; what appearances are and are not acceptable; and what topics / speech is and is not acceptable. This is enforced in so many ways, from the very obvious to the very subtle. Most of the time, we are not even conscious that we are enforcing such societal restraints! The result is that we have fragmented ourselves where there is tension on the barrier where we have "shoved our shadows" behind that threatens to burst out every so often and people feel that they have to keep a rein on it out of consideration for the other, or for society or proprietary. I have jealousy issues that go way back into my childhood; but I found that it makes people really uncomfortable if I ever express it. A friend who lives in the same area as I do came up to me to share about his frustrations about being looked down upon because of his appearance, and that he does frequent, but not consistent obvious "support work" around the area. How many times has everyone felt something, but had to find a tactful way to express it or "deal with it" out of a desire or pressure not to make a scene? Notice what processes you went through to figure out that tactful way, or how others clued you in on the proper tactful way to deal with something. From my perspective, and I could be wrong, that sounds like a pretty prevalent case of creating and squelching our shadows! It seems to be becoming more and more intense too, and the fact that President Trump is where he is, and being precisely who he is seems to be affirmation of my perspective. What you resist, persists. The outer world is a reflection of your inner world. This is what I see all the time, sometimes much to my chagrin... :-) President Trump seems to be so much of what people do not want to see in public - narcissist, egotistical, a bully - I have not kept up with all the news, so I am probably missing a few more characterizations that people are attributing to him Those seem like the kinds of adjectives to behaviours that we deem to be unacceptable in society. It is as if all the skeletons that we all stuffed into the closet have come together and chose him as their champion. Is it any coincidence that every so often we see the rise of people we do not approve of come into a leadership position somewhere in the world? I mean, it seems to be no wonder that this happens if we are endlessly stuffing our shadows into the close of the unknown! So, while his becoming President of the United States has sparked something of a mass resistance from all corners of the country; take a look of what we all are expressing - fear, anger, anxiety, hate, judgement. That does not seem to to be so different from what we have portrayed various "monsters" expressing themselves to oppress or repress US. One day last autumn, yet another friend shared with me that she was walking to her vehicle to go home from somewhere and there was two throngs of people separated by a fence, and she had to pass through them to get to her vehicle in downtown Albuquerque. As she walked down the fence, a few people yelled at her, and one said that she was walking down the wrong side of the fence. It turns out that it was Trump supporters versus non-supporters,and she was talking down the side of the Trump supporters. The vitriol and hate she experienced as she walked down towards her vehicle was impactful on her. So, while all our Resistance efforts are great at getting us to all become conscious; also consider taking a look on the inside, to our inner world and see how much of the outer world is reflected; and also consider how you can reform your inner world so that you may see some changes get reflected in the outer world?? That is the direction I am intending to go; and it seems simpler to effect change on myself, and work on myself than to try to change so much of the world around me.

Trump is probably the worst president that this country has ever had. I am still stunned by how he managed to get to this position. I mean, sure, he is a capable businessman, but politics and the government are different. You cannot handle a nation the same way that you handle a business. In my opinion, it is better to just go and think about how you are going to live a better life for yourself, that is what I think.

About Peter Trinh

Hi!

My name is Peter Trinh and I started a pilgrimage on the latter half of September 2013; after deciding that the way I was living my life turned unsatisfactory and I realized that if I wanted to change my life and get out of my perceived corner, that I needed to start changing myself from the inside out. I tied up all my affairs in California, sold almost everything I owned, and told my colleagues, clients, friends, and acquaintances that I was leaving to hop on the train with a one-way ticket eastwards. Since then, I have not had any regrets on this decision and it started a continuing host of extraordinary experiences. I would be Grateful if you joined me as I chronicle this journey on this website!